Monday, November 21, 2011

Cheer Team Pretzel Rod Snacks

We are back from the big cheer competition and my daughters team came in 4th place. I am so proud of them and all their hard work! We had a great time and a lot of fun together exploring a new place.

But I must admit, one of the best moments of the weekend had nothing to do with my daughter.

The competition had several teams of girls with special needs. There were a couple girls in wheel chairs and one team even had a girl who was blind. There they were...in their cheer uniforms...performing. It was awesome. I know how much courage it took my little girl to perform on the same stage. The courage and bravery these girls displayed moved me to my very soul. I know how many hours our team practiced to get their stunts perfected...several of these teams also performed stunts. It was amazing! I have never been more proud...proud of children I have never met before. Great work girls!!

A couple of the teams used the song "Who Says" by Selena Gomez. Have you ever paid attention to the words?

Who saysWho says you’re not perfectWho says you’re not worth itWho says you’re the only one that’s hurtingTrust meThat’s the price of beautyWho says you’re not prettyWho says you’re not beautifulWho says

It was beautiful! The crowd began clapping along with the music...the whole crowd. They hadn't done that with the other teams. There had been polite cheers up until this point, but basically you cheered for your girls. But this was different. It was very moving...and there I was in the middle of the Convention Center...at a cheer competition...with tears streaming down my face. The beauty of these girls was immeasurable!

Alright, on to the project for the day. I want to share an EASY project that I did for our team and one you can use for any occasion. I have made these for Christmas, Valentines Day, birthday parties...you can change the colors and sprinkles and use them for any occasion. The best part is they are easy and kids can make them...and they will still look great! These are the basic ingredients I used to get started:

The first step was to melt the white chocolate pieces and dip in one end of the pretzels.

Next I melted green chocolate pieces in a squeeze bottle. I squeezed on a drizzle of green since our colors are green, black and white.

While the chocolate was still melted I shook on cookies & creme crumbles to add the black color to the pretzel rods. The chocolate will act like glue and hold the sprinkles in place once it solidifies. I placed a tray of pretzels into the freezer to solidify faster, but you could leave them on the counter and be more patient.

I wrapped each girl two pretzel rods in a plastic treat bag and tied it with green and black ribbon.

Look how cute this looks! And they are truly so easy that your kids could make them!

As we checked into the hotel, I placed this container on the check in counter. One guest thought it was a treat from the hotel...pretty funny...although I did quickly tell her to get her hands off my treats!